A Maya Quiché woman in traditional costume kneels on the steps of the church dedicated to Santo Tomás in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. This temple is a revered place for indigenous people who meet there, mainly on Thursdays and Sundays, market days, to pay emotional homage to their gods. The clergy has long accepted this use of the church for a purpose that has nothing in common with the Catholic ritual. The prayers in the Indian language follow one another. During the ceremony, the natives burn copal, light candles and spread flower petals. The rite is led by a chiman or indigenous priest who has turned his village church into a veritable sanctuary of the Mayan religion. The nave is divided into three sectors. In the first, located near the communion table, the chiman invokes the great figures of his country. In the central part, he addresses the God of the World. The third sector, near the main door, is less specific than the first two. Here the Indian priest can pray to any deity. - 1977
